• Fairlight Cove
    coastal protection scheme

  • Hastings, Sussex, UK

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slope stability well photo

Drilling of wells

sectional diagram

System section

site plan

Site plan

Client
Rother District Council
Main contractor
Dean and Dyball
Consultant
Terry Oakes Associates and GCG
Supervising engineer
Halcrow Group
Pneumatic well system subcontractor
WJ Groundwater Ltd

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A number of measures were used to arrest cliff recession, which was threatening residential property, including a permanent groundwater control scheme which was installed by WJ. The scheme comprises an array of 56 wells installed at 5 m centres along a road above the back scarp of the slip. The wells are 25 m deep and are pumped using an electro-pneumatic system driven from a purpose built compressor house. The well heads are in manholes with connecting ducts for the pneumatic control system and monitoring sensor cables. The compressor house also contains a datalogger and modem which uses flow meters and vibrating wire transducers to monitor the system performance. WJ was responsible for the control and maintenance of the scheme for the first 5 years of operation.

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Key words

  • slope stability, permanent dewatering, clay, mudstone, electro-pneumatic wells